Caley Thistle assistant manager Scott Kellacher hopes Inverness’ players can use their free weekend to their advantage when they host Dundee United in the Championship on Saturday.
Inverness were left out of action when their trip to leaders Ayr United on Friday night was postponed less than an hour before kick off due to high winds, with a new date of Tuesday, January 29 having been arranged for the fixture (7.45pm kick-off).
Although Caley Jags were leapfrogged into fourth by Queen of the South on goal difference following the Doonhamers’ 1-1 draw against Ross County, Saturday’s third-placed opponents United were also held to a 1-1 draw by Morton.
With Inverness’ play-off rivals failing to take full advantage of the Highlanders being out of action, Kellacher is determined to put the pressure on the teams above them when they return to action this weekend.
He said: “We gave the guys the weekend off after travelling and they’ve come back in on Monday raring to go again for Dundee United.
“The weekend past was kind to us in terms of draws. Every game is a big one in this league and what makes it quite exciting is everybody can beat everybody. We have seen results in the last few weeks that we didn’t see coming.
“We’ll go into it the same way we do every week looking to win.”
A victory on Saturday would move Inverness to within three points of the Tannadice side, and Kellacher expects a tight encounter, adding: “We know it is going to be a hard game. Dundee United are decent and they’re more consistent under Robbie Neilson’s management.
“The last two weeks they struggled, drawing with Morton and and a bad one against Ayr the week before, but I’m sure Robbie will be working day and night to get things right. That’s the sort of manager he is.
“We played them down at Tannadice earlier in the season and drew 1-1. There wasn’t much between the teams, which is what this league is all about really. You don’t know what you are getting from one week to the next.”
Inverness’ game against United will be their first league fixture since their 25-match unbeaten run was ended by Falkirk on December 1, and Kellacher is looking for a defensive improvement from John Robertson’s men.
Kellacher added: “The first goal is massive in this league. It gives teams something to hold onto. We’ve seen it out on our pitch two weeks ago against Falkirk, where it was frustrating. We’ll play worse in games and win.
“We can’t defend the way we did in that game, the boys know that.”